300 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
Lewis Davis was the only son of Owen Davis, the first miller in Beaver-creek township and later the first one in Miami township. More data concerning him has been found in the history of Jefferson county, Indiana, than in any of the records of Greene county. It seems that he went with John Paul from Xenia to Jeffersonville, Indiana, when the latter went there to enter land on which he laid out the town of Madison, Indiana. Davis evidently had some money with him; at least, he entered, into partnership with Paul in the purchase of the site of Madison. This was in 1809. Three or four years later he is said to have been back in Xenia,, but he soon settled in Cincinnati. On October 8, 1813, about the time he left Madison, he disposed of one-half of his interest in his Madison property to Jacob Burnett, of Cincinnati. Then oh November 24, 1817, he sold his remaining property in Madison to Lewis Whiteman. This deed of 1817 shows that Davis was living in Cincinnati at the time. His career from 1817 until his death is shrouded in mystery, but he seemed to have gone from Cincinnati to Logan county when the county was organized in 1818 and lived there until his death.
Davis seemed to have been a man of some ability ; leastwise, he is credited with doing considerable surveying in his community, and becoming a man of some importance in various ways. But, so the story of his life goes, he preferred corn in the liquid form to the product in the shape of meal, the result being that he lost what he had, and eventually left the county and became a resident of Logan county. The only further definite information concerning this first settler of the township is furnished by an account written by someone in the '80s who accidentally found his grave in Logan county. Thus is it described by this unknown writer : "On the left hand side of State road, six miles west of Bellefontaine, in an open forest, is a sandy knoll, surrounded by a rail enclosure, and covered by an oval shaped boulder, perhaps six feet in diameter; beneath this stone reposes all that remains of Lewis Davis, unhonored, unwept and unknown. For years he had lived the life of a pauper, and when he saw the grim vision of death approaching, he expressed a desire that this spot be his last resting place." And, as far as known, he still rests there.
TALES OF OTHERS OF THE PIONEERS.
Sebastian Shroufe, the other settler credited by some as being the first in the township, was a native of Germany. He came here with his wife and large family of children at an early day-. He is listed as a taxpayer in 1808, but there is nothing to indicate that he was the first settler to make his permanent home here. It is said that he was a "squatter" at first, later purchasing a tract in the township, but it is certain that he eventually became a prosperous citizen.
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 301
Owen Davis, the father-in-law of Gen. Benjamin Whiteman, and the owner of the house in Beavercreek township where the first county court was held on May 10, 1803, was one of the early settlers of Miami township. He operated the first mill at Clifton; he is listed as one of the township's taxpayers in 1808. Davis died February 18, 1818. General Whiteman died on his farm near Clifton on July I, 1852, at the age of eighty-four.
David Garrison arrived in the township about 1808 and was one of the prominent settlers. He started a record in the year of his arrival in the township in which he noted his business transactions. From this record. it has been ascertained that the following men were among the most prominent here in that year : Justus Luce, who lived near Clifton and bought live stock; Joel Van Meter, the first elder of the Presbyterian church at Clifton; Owen Davis, the owner and operator of the Clifton Mills; General Whiteman, who moved from Beavercreek township to Miami in 1805 and lived there until his death; David Brodrick, Evan Stevens, James Miller and Sebastian Shroufe.
On the road between Yellow Springs and Clifton there lived in an early day two men of the name, of James Miller, but so far as known of no relation. In order to distinguish between the two, their friends dubbed one of them 'Congress" Miller and the other "Stand-by" Miller. The first named had a perennial desire to go to Congress—a desire which, by the way, was never gratified ; the other was a sober and steady sort of a citizen with no political aspirations, and hence was well named "Stand-by" Miller. He would probably have been called "Stand-pat" Miller if he had been living in the present generation. One of these Millers, presumably "Congress," was appointed postmaster of Yellow Springs on October 1, 1810.
John Graham, a native of Virginia, later a resident of Kentucky, where he married a girl from Pennsylvania, came to Ohio and located in Miami township of Greene county sometime in 1802 or 1803. Their daughter, Anna, born in 1804, was one of the first girls born in the township. She lived to be probably the oldest native-born resident of the township, her death occurring in the latter part of the '80s. She married Daniel Pennell. John Graham settled with his family on the Xenia road about two miles south of Yellow Springs and lived there until his death. His widow later moved to Illinois, where she made her home with her youngest son until her death.
The Johnson family were here before 1808, William Johnson being one of the taxpayers of 1808.
The first Johnson concerning whom definit information is obtainable was James, a native of Kentucky, who came to the township in 1815 with his wife, seven sons and four daughters. He first located on an eighty-acre tract near Clifton, and subsequently bought eighty acres more across the line in Clark county. He paid six dollars an acre for
302 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
this second tract, ten acres of it being cleared. Johnson became a large landowner before his death, and his descendants have been large owners.
Another family of the '20S was that of James Anderson, a native of Dundee, Scotland. He brought his wife, three sons and two daughters across to this country in 1820. Landing at Quebec, Canada, they came to Greene county via Buffalo and Sandusky, arriving in Miami township in the spring of 1821. They settled near Grinnell's mills on the Little Miami, but in 1826 removed to Clark county, where he purchased one hundred acres for one dollar an acre. The descendants of the family still live in Clark county.
EARLY CENTERS OF ACTIVITY.
The towns of Yellow Springs and Clifton were early centers of activity in Miami township and many of the early settlers were residents of one or the other of the two places. Thomas Fream is credited with being appointed the first postmaster of Yellow Springs on April 1, 1805. He held the office until October I, 1810, when James Miller succeeded him. The name of Fream does not appear on the tax duplicate of 1808, but there was a Thomas Freeman. It is not even claimed that there was a single dwelling house in Yellow Springs until 1809, Elisha Mills erecting the first log cabin on the site of the future town in that year. Even as late as 1845 there were fewer than half a dozen houses in Yellow Springs ; in fact, the Methodist church, and two or three cabins constituted the whole of the village when the railroad invaded its quiet precincts. The history of the town proper begins with its platting in 1853. The village of Clifton was laid out in 1833 for Timothy Bates and Bennett, proprietors, and for twenty years of its existence was much more of a place than Yellow Springs.
A COMMUNIST SETTLEMENT.
There are few people in Greene county who are aware of the fact that there was at one time an attempt by a number of persons to establish a communistic settlement in Miami township. The facts concerning this strange settlement are obscure and the most searching record of their life in the county has failed to reveal much definite information concerning them. The newspapers seemed to have ignored their presence, or at least no contemporary reference to their existence here has been found.
They were an offshoot of the New Harmony settlement in southwestern Indiana which was in existence from 1823 to 1828, when they disposed of their holdings in that state and removed to Pennsylvania and other states. Some of them located in Greene county, but it is not known at just what time they came here. The Indiana settlement. was established by a Scotch-man, Robert Owen, and his followers are often referred to as Owenites, a name which seemed to have been applied to those living in Greene county.
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO303
The facts which have been preserved about them as far as this county is concerned are substantially as follows : They located in Miami township some time in the '30s and erected a large building which was held in common. Their profits from their labors were divided equally among the members, and no man was considered as being of more importance in the community than another. Their house was a log structure which stood in the ravine near the cliffs. Each family had one room to itself, the rooms being separated from each other by logs, while there was a large dining room where all gathered for their meals. As they believed in marriage the little colony grew in numbers, and it became necessary to add other rooms to the original structure. The main structure eventually became a building one hundred feet long, but only twenty feet wide, and here They lived as long as they maintained their queer communal method of living.
The colony was not, however, destined to have a very long career in the county. Soon there arose self-appointed leaders and this led to such serious disagreements that dissensions arose which brought about the dissolution of the settlement, The property held in common was the primary cause of the abrupt ending of the colony. Some wanted it divided among the members, and the result was that the local courts took a hand in the difficulty and the society was soon disbanded. Most of the original members left the county, but a few of them remained to become useful citizens of the township. Thus passed out of existence the most peculiar settlement the county has ever known, and today the oldest inhabitants can not recall anything definite about their connection with the life of the county. Their story has been told, and it only remains for the historian to chronicle their brief existence as erstwhile dwellers in the valley of the Little Miami.
THE FIRST MURDER IN MIAMI TOWNSHIP.
In November, 1809, William Catrill, a resident of the township, murdered a child, of which he was supposed to be the father. The child belonged to Jane Richards, a sister to Catrill's wife, and the former was indicted with Catrill when the case was tried in Xenia in the spring of 1810. The woman was acquitted, but Catrill was found guilty chiefly upon the testimony of a young girl who testified that the child had been thrown out one cold night in November among the hogs, which the murderer supposed would remove all traces of the crime. Strangely enoughit was found the next morning that the body of the child had not been touched. Circumstances pointed toward the guilt of the Richards woman and Catrill and they were at once arrested and brought to trial. After Catrill's conviction, he escaped the extreme penalty by the interposition of the "Sweeping Resolutions," which are to be found in Chase's Statutes of 1809-10.
304 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES.
There are both steam and electric roads running through Miami township today and good highways to be found everywhere. The first township road was not laid out until March 3, 1822, although there were several so-called roads before that year. Year by year the roads have been gradually improved until at the present time most of those within the township are at least graveled. The main road between Xenia and Springfield passes through the township, the road being known as the Springfield-Xenia inter-county highway.
The present Springfield branch of the Pennsylvania railroad was built as the Little Miami railroad. It was opened through between Xenia and Springfield in the summer of 1846. The electric line between Xenia and Springfield, a distance of twenty miles, was chartered in 1901 ; the first trolley was put up on January 20, 1902 ; the first track was laid on April 7, 1902; the first regular cars were run on May 1, 1902; the first regular cars from Yellow Springs to Springfield were run on June 17, 1902; the first regular cars from Yellow Springs to Xenia began running August 17, 1902, and the honor of buying the first ticket from Yellow Springs to Xenia belongs to Edward Carlisle.
AGRICULTURAL CONDITIONS AT PRESENT.
The soil of Miami township is very fertile, since the township is largely in the immediate valley of the Little Miami river and its tributaries. Yet notwithstanding this fact the farmers are using an ever increasing amount of commercial fertilizer each year. In 1916 they used no less than six hundred one thousand one hundred forty pounds of commercial fertilizer, and also turned under ninety-six acres of clover sod. In the same year they put in one hundred eighty-seven rods of drain tile, a fact which shows that they appreciate the value of good drainage.
The agricultural statistics for the year ending March I, 1917, are the last available at the time this is being written, and all the statistics quoted in succeeding paragraphs are taken from this report. This report is on file in the auditor's office. The grains showed the following yield in bushels : Wheat, 33,145; rye, 517; oats, 7,214; winter barley, 217; spring barley, 416; corn, 110,720; clover seed, 41. Other farm products exhibited the following-report : Acres of ensilage, 59; potatoes, 3,712 bushels; onions, 240 bushels; timothy hay, 1,910 tons; clover hay, 412 tons; acres of alfalfa, 167; alfalfa hay, 412 tons; ensilage, 117 Wm; apples, 13,940 (largest yield in the county). The whole township reported only twenty silos, while Cedarville township reported sixty-one. There were 9,642 acres under cultivation ; 3,009 acres of pasture land ; 1,112 acres of woodland; 141 acres of orchards; 416 acres of waste land; total acreage of township, 14.320.
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 305
The live-stock industry of the township was indicated as follows : Horses, 733; cattle, 1,745 ; sheep, 722, with wool clip of 270 pounds; hogs, 2,961 with a loss of 148 by cholera and 29 farms infected with the disease. The dairy products reported with the following figures : Gallons of cream sold, 52,960; home-made butter, 7,116 pounds; gallons of milk sold, 66,452. The hens laid 28,120 dozens of eggs.
The general state of farming is better now than it has ever been before, and farmers are certainly receiving better prices for their products than ever before in the history of the country. Farming is being recognized as a science. The farmer is learning that there is a science in raising corn and hogs just as there is in manufacturing sugar or glass or any other corn- . modity. The farmers are holding what they call institutes, where they hear farm topics discussed by men who have been scientifically trained. All of which makes for a better farmer.
A FAMOUS BARN.
The township of Miami boasts of some of the finest scenery in the state of Ohio, and thousands of tourists visit various parts of it each year. The famous springs at Yellow Springs, the cliffs at Clifton and along the Little Miami, the fantastical geological formations to be found here and there along the river, all unite to make the township one of the beauty spots of the state.
An interesting spot along the river is the old Grinnell mill, which has been in operation upwards of a century and is still to be seen in a fine state of preservation. Near this mill, and a little farther up the river, is the finest park in Greene county and one of the fine ones of the state, the celebrated Riverside Park of John Bryan. This park is one of nature's beautiful creations—five hundred acres of mingled woodland and meadow, rivers and streams, springs and cascades, hills and vales.
This farm of Bryan's boasts the largest barn in the entire state. Its exterior dimensions give some idea of its size : Two hundred six feet long, one hundred twenty feet wide, seventy-five feet high. Later Mr. Bryan built an L to the barn which was eighty-five by fifty feet, this addition of itself being larger than the average barn. The first story is constructed of stone, the remainder of the huge structure being of oak and pine. This famous barn stands about a mile and a half southeast of Yellow Springs.
A FAMOUS HOUSE.
Probably the most picturesque country house in Greene county is that of E. S. Kelly, known as "Whitehall," which adjoins Yellow Springs on the north. The justly famous building was erected in 1846-47 by Judge
(20)
306 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
Aaron Harlan and was modeled after the colonial style of architecture. The original building was erected of brick burned in a kiln nearby, while the interior woodwork was put in when oak, walnut and wild-cherry were to be found everywhere in profusion. The location of the house is impressive; standing on a high knoll, in the midst of a grove of walnut trees, it commands a fine view in every direction. The original walnut trees surrounding the building were used for the interior woodwork, but later owners of the building and site planted an extensive grove of the same kind of trees. Since Mr. Kelly has secured the old Harlan home he has made extensive improvements in the house and grounds.
ANTIOCH BONE CAVE.
The Bone cave near Yellow Springs was discovered by the late Jesse Taylor on October 19, 1878. The cave is located on the old Neff farm, about a half a mile from the town, and about two hundred yards from the large spring known as Yellow Spring. When found, the entrance was about four feet high, three feet wide and faced the south. The cave extends hack into the rock for a total distance of about fourteen feet, but at no place is the ceiling high enough to admit of a person standing up.
Taylor made some investigation of the cave the same week he found it, and because of the several different kinds of bones which he found in it, it has since been known as the Bone cave. He found two human skulls, both the arm and leg hones of small children and several human teeth. He found the bones of oppossums, minks, porcupines, woodchuck, rattlesnakes, rabbits, muskrats, beavers, etc. Among these bones were found different implements used by the Indians, among which were bone awls, polished stone hatchets, and several other implements made out of rock or bone. It was never determined whether the cave was used as a burial spot or not, but the remains of animals found in it would seem to indicate that it was not intended as a sepulchre.
CLIFTON.
The town of Clifton is the oldest town in Miami township, dating its official beginning from 1833. In the late summer of that year Timothy Bates and Bennet Lewis, the owners of the townsite, had it surveyed into thirty-two lots by Robert Walton, the county surveyor. This plat was recorded on August 24, 1833, the record stating that the townsite was located in fractional section 32, township 5, range 8. The lots were laid out "square with the world," a plan which has not been followed with many of the towns of the county.
The name given to the town is pleasantly suggestive of the Tugged
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 307
cliffs which are found along the Little Miami river which flows along the south edge of the town. When the town was laid out in 1833 there were already a few settlers on the site, while one of the largest mills in this section of the state was located along the Little Miami at this place. The mill drew settlers for more than a score of miles around, and the store of the two proprietors of the town, Bates & Lewis, did probably as much business in a year as any store in the county.
It was this fact that induced the enterprising Yankees, Bates and Lewis, to decide to plat a town about the mill and their store. In the summer of 1833 they had a conference with a carpenter, A: G. Kiler by name, and induced him to locate in the new village with the prospect of getting plenty of work to do at his trade. The story is told, and it may be true, that he actually built fourteen houses in the summer of 1833, and furthermore it is stated that the houses were occupied as fast as they were completed. In the following year, 1834, Kiler built other buildings.
Thus the infant village jumped from its swaddling clothes into a full-fledged village. It did most of its jumping the first few years, its sudden prosperity being due in large part to its beautiful location on the river, as well as to the belief that the proposed new railroad to run between Springfield and Xenia would pass through its precincts. When the early '4os disclosed the fact that the railroad was to go three miles west of the village it was then seen that it was doomed as a village of any importance. It had to see its younger rival, Yellow Springs, spring into existence and reap the good result which a railroad always brings a town. It was thus never necessary to add very much to the first platting of the town in 1833 in fact, the thirty-two lots which were added in May, 1835, by the two original proprietors seem to have been the last which have been added to the town. This addition was recorded on May 8, 1833, and the description accompanying the plat states that the proprietors were donating a lot fifty by fifty feet to the Methodist church, the lot in question being a part of whole lot No. 40, on the northeast corner of Clay and North streets.
The pioneer merchants, Bates & Lewis, are said to have located in the village as early as 1826. The first commission to a postmaster for the village was issued to Timothy G. Bates. The year the town was laid out, 1833, there was a sudden influx of settlers, although it is difficult to see what would have brought them to the place. William and David Anderson built a business room in 1833, or the year following, and stocked it with such commodities as were then usually found in the rural stores. William Anderson followed Bates as postmaster, and later he removed to Yellow Springs, where he lived to a ripe old age.
The first blacksmith was one Confer, a Virginian, who followed his
308 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
trade for several years in the village. Among other residents of the village in its earlier years, or at least, some of those who lived near enough the village to be called a part of it, were John Knox, Gen. Benjamin Whiteman, Baker, Braley, Knott, Porter, Gibson, Stevenson, Luce and Kemp, the latter operating the flour-mill at one time in the '3os.
The village was incorporated in 1835, but it was soon seen that it had little use for an incorporation. Many of the most enterprising Citizens moved over to Yellow Springs as soon as the railroad went through in the middle of the '4os, and the once promising village was soon only a ghost of its former self.
Three churches have risen along the quiet streets of Clifton : Methodist, Presbyterian and United Presbyterian. Many years ago a town hall was erected, which serves as the home of the officials of the village, the village jail, and a hall on the second floor of good size. Then there is an opera house which would do credit to a town of twice its size—a sizable building capable of seating five hundred people, about twice the entire population of the town at the present time. A two-story brick school house, with four teachers, accommodates the educational needs of the village and surrounding community.
The business and professional interests of the village in 1918 are not very extensive. The flour-mill of Isaac Preston is the only industry of the village. This mill has an interesting history, it being one of the oldest waterpower mills in the state. Preston bought it in 1907 and has since installed an electric light plant in connection with the mill. One of the oldest merchants of the town, A. H. White, retired from business several years ago, selling his store to W. B. Clark. There are now two stores in the town : W. B. Clark has one and Warren D. Printz the other. Printz was appointed postmaster of the town on February 25, 1915. Clark was the postmaster of the town for about twenty years. C. E. Confer has been engaged in the blacksmithing business in the village for a number of years.
TOWN OFFICIALS IN 1918.
The officials of the town in 1918 are as follows : Mayor, E. C. Corey; clerk, J. F. Cultice ; treasurer, W. B. Clark ; marshal, Byrd Hayslett ; assessor, C. M. Preston ; councilmen—C. M. Preston, Clyde Clark, Charles Hopping, W. D. Printz, C. E. Estle and H. R. Corry.
CHAPTER XVII.
ROSS TOWNSHIP.
Ross township was one hundred and seven years old on March 4, 1918. It started off its career as an independent political unit on the same day with Silvercreek township. Ross was a part of Caesarscreek township from May 10, 1803, until the organization of Xenia township on August 20, 1805, and was set off from the latter township on March 4, 1811. Therefore all its settlers from 1803 to 1811, a period of eight years, are to be found listed with the settlers of one or the other of the two previously formed townships.
The order on the commissioners' records for the formation of Ross township was set forth in the following language :
Ordered that Xenia Township be divided in the following manner (Towit) Beginning at the Northwest corner of Silver Creek Township and running thence North to the Miami Township line ; the said new Township shall be called and known by the name of Ross Township ; that the first meeting of Electors in Ross Township for the purpose of electing Township officers shall be at the house of John Bozorth in said Township.
Its original limits have been changed on three different occasions : First by the addition of a part of Miami township in 1819; secondly, by the loss of a considerable portion at the time of the creation of Cedarville township in 1850; finally, by a small loss of territory in 1853, when New Jasper township came into existence. A study of its original limits show that it was laid out about six miles wide north by south, and seven miles from east to west. Its present perimeter shows straight boundary lines on all except the western side, which is about as irregular as could be imagined. The township is bounded on the north by Clark county, on the east by Madison and Fayette counties, on the south by Silvercreek township, and on the west by New Jasper and Cedarville townships.
The origin of the name given to the township in 1811 has always been more or less obscure. It is certain that it was named Ross in honor of a pioneer of that name who was prominent in the decade prior to the War of 1812, but just who this man Ross was and what became of him are questions which will probably never be answered. The historians of . forty years ago were unable to find anything about him, and at that time there were living some of the pioneers who were very early residents of the township. He left no descendants, and, as far as the official records of the
310 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
county are concerned, never seemed to have held any office. The names of Robert and James Ross appear in the tax duplicates of 1813, and it was probably one of these who was responsible for the name.
MILITARY SURVEYS.
All of the land in Ross township lies within the Virginia Military Sur-vey. The official records show that there are thirty-six surveys wholly or in part within the township. Strange to say only eight of these contain in excess of one thousand acres, two of the eight being for an even two thou-sand acres. Of the remaining surveys, six call for less than a hundred acres. A complete list of these thirty-six surveys, together with the names of the proprietors, and the number of each survey and its acreage, is given in the appended table: